Conventional indicia printers exist in a variety of forms. Such printers require a supply of print media on which to print the indicia. Indicia have data encoded therein. Indicia are optical representations of data. There are many types of indicia for many applications. Indicia may be one-dimensional barcodes (e.g., Universal Product Code, UPC) having dark lines (i.e., bars) and light lines (i.e., spaces) of various widths arranged along a scan axis. Indicia may be two-dimensional matrix symbols (e.g., Aztec Code, Data Matrix, QR code, etc.) having a two-dimensional array of light features, dark features, and (in some cases) alignment features. Some indicia may use color (e.g., Ultracode) to encode data. The data encoded into a printed indicium such as a barcode may be scanned (i.e., read) by a reader (a barcode reader in the case of reading a barcode).
A print error may be introduced into the printed indicium (e.g., the barcode) for any number of reasons. The print error is a particularly acute problem in the case of barcode printing, as the barcode encodes data in the width of the bar and the space elements. Barcodes are just one type of machine-readable printed indicia in which the tolerance of the printed indicium is closely related to the machine reader's ability to read the printed indicium in a single scan, and to correctly interpret the encoded data. Printed indicium that includes a print error may be rejected by a verifier, that is separate from the printer, in a verification process as not meeting print quality standards. The verifier may be attached to the printer or used as a standalone device to where the user brings the printed indicia for verification. The conventional verifier is not communicatively coupled to the printer.
A conventional verifier automates the verification process by capturing an image of the printed indicium and evaluating the printed indicium in the image according to print quality standards. The printer brands the rejected printed media (including the printed indicium) with the word “void”, indicating that the rejected printed media is not useable because of the failure of the printed indicium to meet print quality standards. Unfortunately, the “void” indication is not globally recognized and understood by all printer users, particularly as three-quarters of the world population does not speak English. In addition, in order to brand the rejected printed media, the rejected printed media has to be retracted back into the printer and the void indication printed in a second printing pass, decreasing printing throughput speeds and reducing ribbon life. After the branded rejected printed media exits the printer (i.e., after the second printing pass), a cutting device may be used to separate the branded rejected printed media from the media roll.
Therefore, a need exists for printer-verifiers and systems and methods for verifying printed indicia. The need particularly exists where the English word “void” may not be recognized and/or understood. There is also a need to increase printing throughout speeds and extend ribbon life.